Tourism Representations of Chinese Cosmology: The Case of Feng Shui Tourism

This paper contributes to the ongoing dialogue on social spatialization by examining how the divinatory practice and philosophy of . feng shui is articulated within tourism discourses; specifically, within brochures promoting . feng shui tours for Western tourists. Utilizing content analysis, the findings indicate that . feng shui tourism landscapes are depicted as exoteric spaces of consumption through which tourists are existentially transformed. Furthermore, . feng shui tours are framed as pedagogic experiences in which the roles of the tourist and the guide are redefined as student and international pedagogue, respectively, to counteract perceptions of . feng shui as irrational and/or superstitious. Such findings demonstrate ways in which this contested divinatory practice of the periphery is edged to the center vis-à-vis tourism discourses.